Talking Images

Making an image talk, now this was interesting!  I was intrigued at how students would react to watching an image and hearing their own voices.  I have to say, the students were definitely engaged!  I used Blabberize, an online website where you can upload an image and then make it "talk".  I let the students choose what image they wanted to make "talk", searched for the image (through creative commons Google images), and then uploaded it.  The students then practiced saying their words, while the site recorded it.  (Make sure you have the volume turned up on your computer!).  Once the students were done, or the 30 second time limit was up, I saved the creation and let the students listen to it.  It was helpful for the students to hear how they sound, saying their target words, and they also enjoyed watching the image "talk".  (You do need to create an account beforehand, but once you have that set up, you can save your talking images to replay at any time.)  I liked that you have the option to share the completed "talking image", which I did, with the parents of the students I worked with for this project.  The parents enjoyed listening to their child, and they were also able to reinforce the correct sound production at home.  

(For some reason the Blabberize images are not embedding correctly, so I also included the links to two of the images I created).  

http://blabberize.com/view/id/1511264

http://blabberize.com/view/id/1510722

Smore - it's not what you think!

No I am not going to talk about how to make chocolate-y deliciousness using graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows (although that does sound good!)  Instead, I want to tell you about this online tool to make a flyer/poster using website Smore.  Once I created a free account, I had access to many different templates and layouts.  The online templates are very user friendly, so when you pick the one you want to use, the program takes you step by step through each of the components, so you can edit and make it your own.  I was able to edit the title, text, and add pictures with minimal difficulty.  When you are finished creating your flyer, you can save it to your account, and use it whenever you want.  You are also given the option to send it via email as well.

I definitely think this would be a tool that I could use, to make handouts and references for parents.  I typically write out homework, with descriptions for parents, but instead I could send home my pre-created flyers.  I could make different flyers about each sound, how to produce it (with visuals and step by step instructions), and ways to practice at home as well as ways to target vocabulary, asking/answering wh - questions, and boost language skills.  It would cut down on the time I use to write out these tools for home, since I would be able to refer to them, and either print or e-mail them directly to parents.   


https://www.smore.com/44jpq